Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates - Report Example

Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary Pirates The Barbary s according to the U.S department of Office of the Historian referred to a collection of North African states which carried out state-supported piracy to exact tribute from weaker Atlantic powers. These states included: Algiers, Tunis and Tripoli who had loose allegiance to the Ottoman Empire and Morocco which was a United Kingdom. These pirates captured merchant ships and crew and seized goods from the captured ships. According to Davis, between one million and 1.25 million Europeans were captured and sold as slaves between sixteenth and nineteenth century (12). The pirates also asked for ransom from the relevant countries to release the crew and also payment of tribute in order to prevent further attacks. This piracy had been going for long, long before America gained independence from Great Britain. During that time, American shipping was under protection of British but after the confederate states declared independence, it became vulnerable to the Barbary States as Britain no longer protected them. It thus became the duty of American government to protect its vessels from corsairs or pirates of the Mediterranean and Atlantic. This essay will discuss the first Barbary wars and its effect on American economy as well as the reasons why Thomas Jefferson had always wanted to stop the piracy. The first Barbary war took place in 1801 to 1805 while the second Barbary war was between 1815 and 1816. The war took place just after Jefferson’s inauguration after winning the elections of 1800. However, piracy had been a persistent problem for the young nation long before it gained independence from Britain and the presidents (George Washington and John Adams) who assumed office then had to deal with it. As secretary of state and also United States minister to France, Jefferson was in direct confrontation with this problem even before he took over presidency in 1800. The Berber Muslim states benefited much from this piracy and so did the European powers such as Britain and France as t according to the Office of the Historian (nap), they sent privateers to attack shipping and were also involved in the transatlantic slave trade. Piracy was an advantage to them as it allowed the two nations to control trade in the Mediterranean and Atlantic Ocean. As such, they paid tribute to Barbary States without any problem and the Barbary States dared not attack their navies as they were superior. Since America was a British colony, it was protected by Britons and during the revolutionary war, its shipping was protected by France under Treaty of Alliance (1778-83)( Davis, nap).However, following the successful revolutionary war of 1775-1783, the confederate states gained independence and the British immediately informed the Barbary states that United States ships were open to attack. The U.S thus began dealing with the pirates since 1784 to 1816 after the successful second Barbary war. Since the beginning, Jefferson was for peace but he always weighed upon paying tribute to Barbary States or waging war on them to end the problem once and for all (Parton 405-424). He held the belief that paying tributes would only lead to pirates carrying out more attacks and asking for more ransom. As such, he favored war than tribute but the nation had just been out of the revolutionary war hence had a constrained budget and a weak army hence not ready for any war. At the circumstance, paying tribute was the only option. At first, America had no serious problems since their fleet went in convoy with British fleet and Algiers was in war with Portugal hence Portugal protected American ships. The first ship was seized by Moroccan pirates in October 1784 but freedom of the crew was negotiated by the Spanish government. Jefferson as the U.S minister of France sent envoys to Morocco and Algeria to negotiate equal treaties and secure the freedom of captured crew in Algeria and in June 1786, a treaty was reached with Morocco. The treaty sought to set free any captured Americans by Morocco or any other Barbary state as long as it was docked on a Moroccan port. However, the other Barbary States were not willing to make peace or sign treaties yet. In 1785, Algiers pirates captured the crew of Maria and Dauphin and kept them in captivity for more than a decade pending payment of tribute and ransoms and were joined by other crews from more captured ships (Parker 48-58; Roberts & Roberts 163-170). At the time, the U.S was undergoing economic problems hence was unable to raise a navy or tribute to protect its ships and a coalition of weaker naval powers by Jefferson to defeat Algiers was unsuccessful. Though, American ships were protected by Portugal in Gibraltar, in 1793 Portugal and Algeria reached a truce hence increasing vulnerability of American ships. In 1795, a tribute of $ 1 million was agreed upon with Dey Muhammad of Algeria leading to release of captives and U.S continued to do so for the next fifteen years. This was to ensure safe passage of merchant ships and also the release of hostages but it was very costly for the U.S which was operating on a constrained budget. Thomas Jefferson was thus always against this payment of tributes. The U.S was a peaceful nation hence sent diplomats Joel Barlow, Joseph Donaldson and Richard O’Brien to negotiate treaties with the rest of Barbary states (Algiers, Tunis & Tripoli) in 1795 (Office of the Historian). Since the constitution had been adopted in 1789, hence giving the government power to levy taxes and maintain armed forces, a build up of the navy was started in 1794 with construction of six ships and the U.S Department of the Navy was set up in 1798 to prevent attacks as well as the heavy tributes. A treaty was reached with Tripoli in 1796 and with Tunis in 1797 thereby establishing consuls in those states. However, this did not last for long as Tripolitans felt short-changed and unsatisfied with the treaty terms. The Bashaw or Pasha of Tripoli Yusuf Karamanli who had ousted his elder brother Hamet Karamanli in a coup in 1796 thus requested for revision of the terms or declare war on U.S. The consul to Tripoli then was James Cathcart. The war against the Barbary States began with Jefferson when he was elected president in 1800. During his years in office, he was always opposed to paying tributes to buy peace and opted for war but the U.S was not ready yet for war. Furthermore, it was the duty of legislature to decide if the nation was to go to war or not and not the executive. However, he got a reprieve when the Congress passed a naval legislation in 1801 before his inauguration which provided for six frigates to be officered and manned as the president of U.S may direct. The frigates were also to be used in protecting commerce and chastise the insolence-by sinking, burning or destroying pirate’s ships and vessels wherever they shall find them in event of declaration of war on U.S by Barbary states (Woods, nap). The first task of Jefferson was to clear enormous national debts which he had inherited from the previous administration although this did not deter him from the Barbary menace. He paid the debts due to Algiers and Tunis and sent the navy to deal with pirates. Jefferson also sent a small squadron of three frigates and schooner under commodore Richard Dale to protect shipping from pirates and to chastise their insolence. In May, 1801 Pasha Yusuf Tripoli declared war on U.S by cutting down the flagstaff in front of U.S consulate under pretense of late tribute payments (Office of the Historian, nap). The schooner enterprise was used and it defeated 14-gun Tripolitan ship Tripoli on August 1. In his annual report to Congress, Jefferson informed them of the happenings and asked for authority to deal with the Barbary states and the Congress agreed by giving him authority to seize all vessels and goods of the pasha and cause to be done all such other acts of precaution or hostility as the state of war will justify (Jefferson First Annual Message to Congress). Jefferson also achieved support from Congress through passage of an Act to protect commerce and seamen against Tripolitan cruisers in 1802. He was also allowed to use the best naval ships: Argus, Chesapeake, Constellation, Enterprise, Intrepid, Philadelphia and Syren under the command of commodore Edward Preble (Woods, nap). As such, America was able to maintain a naval blockade of Barbary ports throughout 1803. In 1803, naval action began with the capture of frigate Philadelphia when it ran aground in Tripoli. The Tripolitans refloated the ship and captured the 307-man crew for use against the U.S shipping. However, before it could be used, the U.S navy led by Lieutenant Stephen Decatur in a captured Tripolitan ship set fire on Philadelphia destroying it completely (McKee 279). In 1804, the new Commodore Samuel Barron was sent to force the enemy to agree to peace terms using frigates, brigs and smaller vessels which had been released in 1803 leading to an effective blockade of Tripoli. On the other hand, William Eaton an ex-consul sought to join forces with pasha Yusuf’s brother Hamet with a promise to put him back to power and on April 1805, they both captured the town of Derne. Fearing the return of his brother, Yusuf came to terms with Tobias Lear the consul to Algiers thus signing a treaty of peace and Amity in 1805. However, the treaty only dealt with the question of captives’ ransom and not tribute hence the U.S was required to pay a ransom of $ 60,000 based on the difference of captives held by Tripoli and those held by U.S. The treaty was ratified in April, 1806. In 1812, the Dey of Algiers Hajji Ali declared war on U.S which coincided with the war of 1812 between Britain and U.S hence rendering U.S weak. The war was quelled by Decatur and a treaty reached in and ratified in 1815. However, piracy continued until 1830 when France conquered Algeria. The Barbary wars had enormous effects in the U.S economy. The U.S depended on trade in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic with countries such as Portugal and Spain. The Barbary corsairs by seizing American merchant ships and enslaving the crew for high ransoms and tributes for peace were a blow to the growing American economy. America was in debt due to the revolutionary war against Britain and needed trade to gain wealth to repay these debts. It did not even have enough budgets to maintain a navy hence the losses in the beginning. For example, in the fiscal year 1800, the U.S paid a ransom of $ 1 million which was about 10% of the government annual revenues (Chantrill, nap). This is a great setback to the economy. Moreover, revenue was lost from the seized ships as goods were taken and sometimes ships wrecked. Spending on the navy and armed forces to protect American ships and seamen was also costly for the young economy which was struggling to survive. Conclusion The first Barbary war was fought between 1801 and 1805 by the U.S and Tripoli a Barbary state due to refusal by President Thomas Jefferson to pay the high tributes demanded by Barbary States. These states (Tripoli, Algiers, Tunis,) under the Ottoman Empire and Morocco were seizing American merchant ships and enslaving their crew for high ransoms. They were also asking for annual tributes in return for peace or not to face further attacks. Jefferson felt that continuing to pay such tributes would only lead to further attacks and therefore sought to mediate peace treaties with those nations. Treaties were entered into but the Pasha Yusuf Karamanli of Tripoli was not satisfied and declared war on U.S in 1801. The U.S responded by using its frigates, brigs and vessels to wage war on Tripoli and uniting with the brother of Yusuf, Hamet to attack Tripoli leading to capture of Tripolitan city of Derne. As a result, Pasha agreed to a Peace and Amity treaty in 1805. However, the treaty only concerned payment of ransom for captives and not the pressing problem of paying tributes hence did not solve the problem. This led to eruption of another war between U.S and Algiers in 1812. Works Cited Chantrill, Christopher. United States Federal State and Local Government Revenue, Fiscal Year 1800, in $ Million. usgovernmentrevenue.com. Web. 21 April, 2014. Davis, Robert. Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast and Italy, 1500–1800. McKee, Christopher.Edward Preble: A Naval Biography.  Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1972 Parker, Richard B.  Uncle Sam in Barbary.  Gainesville, Fla: University Press of Florida, 2004. Parton, James. Jefferson, American Minister in France. Atlantic Monthly. 30.180 (1872): 405–424 Thomas Jefferson, First Annual Message to Congress, December 8, 1801, in PTJ, 36:58-59 Woods, Thomas. Presidential War Powers. 7 July, 2005. LewRockwell.com. Web. 21 April, 2014. Read More